Double-deck bus



Dec. 27, i 527. 7 1,654,492

E. A. CORBIN, JR

DOUBLE DECK BUS Filed March s, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: m sgzkwx @4 2.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 27, 1927. 1,654,492

E. CORBIN, JR

- DOUBLE DECK BUS Filed March 5, 1923 s Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR:

ATTO RNEYS? Dec. 27, 1927.

E. A. CORBIN, JR

DOUBLE DECK BUS Filed March 3, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR: mxmq BY ATTORNEYS.

All

l atented Dec. 27, 1927.

l ll'l fill STATES;

IiA'l'ENT ()FFlClZ.

DOUBLEJDECK BUS.

Application filed March 3, 1923. serial No. 622,497.

In the conventional oouble deck motor coach of the character commonly in vogue, there has heretofore been employed an unsheltered outside roar stairway for permitting the ascent of the passengers to the upper deck, which outside rear stairway has always been so designed that it took up a great deal of unnecessary room,'and in addition being always open to storms and th effects of inclement weather, the steps thereof in bad weather were always open to the effects thereof and quickly became wetor slippery or coated with ice and were very unsafe. This condition has always had a tendency to intimidate passengers from venturing aloft and has tended to a loss of revenue from the reluctance of passengers to take the risk in curred in clambcring to the upper deck, particularly if the vehicle was in motion.

For the purpose of obviating the foregoing objectionable condition, I have devised a novel construction and collocation of inclosed, inside front stairway for a motor coach which takes up very little room, is weather proof, and being wholly within the vehicle body, gives the ascei'idingr passenger a sense of security and safety and enables the transportation company to sell the upper deck seats more readily, and thus utilize the entire seating or carrying capacity of the motor coach. I

My novel stairway-is so designed and collocated within the front of the vehicle that the user thereof upon entering the front of the coach walks entirely across the front vestibule beyond the center aisle line before reaching thefirst or lower treads, so that he is entirely within the vehicle before beginning iis ascent. and in addition by my novel construction, I bring; the main entrance to the coach on the outer right hand s de and the driver is enabled to approach closely to I the curb, loading on passengers with ease,

and he is further enabled to see that all pacwhereby not only is'the tra'i licdivided in two ways, but

seats are provided in the front of the stairway on the upper deck, thereby greatly increasing not only the accessibility to the upper deck, but also the capacity thereof.

It further consists of a novel construction of an L-shapcd door, enactingwith the head opening of the roof of the upper deck, which enables the passengers readily'to complete their ascent of the last three or four steps to the upper deck.

To the above ends my invention consists of a spiral stairway common to the upper and lower decks, locatedin the front of the coach opposite to the passenger entrance to the lower deck, so that the front end of the aisle of the lower deck intervenes between said entrance and the lower treads, the latter being spaced away from the front end of the coach, so as to provide ample room for the driver and conductor atthe front, while the upper treads terminate at the upper deck a little distance to the rear of the front of said upper deck, so as to divide the uppcudcck traffic in two directions.

It further consists of the combination of a stairway having; the characteristics aforesaid with a vertical hand rail which isolates the driver from the passengers and conductor.

It further consists of the novel combination of a stairway and hand rail o fthe charactor aforesaid. with an L-shaped doorfor the upper deck collocated in a novel manner with respect to said stairway and its adjuncts.

It further consists of a novel construction of an inside spiral front stairway common to the upper and lower decks and a vertical hand rail on the lower deck spaced away from the stair treads, so as to isolate the driver and afford a maximum space. for the ascending: and descending passengers, and

the standers to move about in.

For the purpose of ill.ustrating, my invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings forms thereof which are at pres ent preferred by me, .ince they will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organllnnited to iced that my invention'is the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a motor coach embodying my invention.

Figure 2 represents a horizontal section 011 line 22 Figure 1. v

Figure 3 represents a horizontal section on line 3-3, Figure 1.

Figure l represents a vertical section on line 44 Figure 2.

Figure 5 represents a vertical section on line 55 Figure 3.

Figure 6 represents a perspective view of the L-shaped door employed on the upper deck in detached position.

Similar numerals of reference corresponding parts in the figures. ring to the drawings.

1 designates my novel construction of motor coach, the same comprising the lower deck 2 and. the upper deck 3. At the front of the lower deck I locate a post or upright i, on each side of which are the front foldindicate Refering doors 5 and 6, which are actuated by any ascending, descending or standing passengers, and as the latter complete their ascent .to the upper deck 3, they step out through the opening 21 upon the door 18 into the center aisle 19 of the upper deck and can then occupy the seats '20.

The opening 21 is closed by a sliding L- shaped door 22 composed of the upright member 23, and the lateral member or top 2 1,

whose outer end slides upon the guide 26 which may be below the roof. as'shown. or above the roof, the lower edge of the door sliding inthe ways or guide 25. The roof of the upper deck has a central longitudinal opening as indicated at 27, (Fig. 5) and the portion of the roof vertically-above the uppermost treads 28 of the spiral stairway has the head opening 29 which permits the passengers to walk up the upper treads 28 and step out upon the floor 18 of the upper deck without interference and when the door 22 is closed or slid to the left of the position seen in Figure l, said opening 29 is closed .by the top portion 24: of the door; It will be noted that the front upper deck is provided with a forward overhang 30 in "ad vance of the upper end of the spiral stairway 12, which projects out over the hood 31 of the motor and in this upper deck space in advance of the stairway I am enabled to seat twelve people as will be under stood from the right hand end of Figure 2.

thereby greatly augmenting the upper deck seating capacity over prior constructions.

and in addition by my novel positioning of the upper stairway, I divide the upper deck traffic in two directions. The position of the lower outer stringer 15 of the stairway and the railing 16 further serves to isolate the driver or motorman, keeping him out of the range of the passengers so thathe is lower deck at the point 31*, as will be under stood from Figure 3 which gives room for the conductor to have a seat without blocking up the aisle. and a front standing space is thus provided for twelve passengers to stand while the coach is starting up, thus enablingthe conductor to collect fares more readily.

In order to obtain the requisite head room in the front lower deck, eliminate entirely the sills heretofore commonly employed on which the body rests and substitute therefor a metal plate32 of aluminum or the like of sutlicient thickness to hold the coach sides 33 together, and employ outrigger-s 34 which are riveted to the longitudinally extending frame channels 35 of the chassis, as will be understood from Figure 5 by which eX pedients I gain three inches vertically between the flooring of the lower and. upper decks, which gives the requisite and neces sary head room on the lower deck. I am also enabled by this lowering of the plate or floor 32 to employ a short step 7 which is rigid and stationary, and above which are fitted the lower ends of the folding doors 5 and 6, which are hinged to the rear and front posts 36 and 37, respectively, so that when they are open or folded. inwardly as seen in Figure 3. a wide opening is provided for the ingress and egress of the passengers.

Only the lower deck 2 is heat-ed, since the upper deck 3 is open above the aisle. but the seated passengers on the upper deck are adequately protected from inclement weather by the overhanging roof sections 05, as will be evident from Figure '5.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that by reason of the forward. overhang 30 seen in Figures 1 and 2, I am enabled to greatly increase the seating capacity of the upper deck and by positioning the stairway at the point indicated, 1 am enabled to di-' vide the upper deck trafiic in two directions so that a considerable portionof the same can occupy the seats in the front overhang 3.0 and by the provision of the L-shaped ill (ill

door 22, I am enabled in inclement weather to protectpassengers on the lower deck from the snow, sleet or rain which might otherwise have ingress to the lower deck and to the treads of the spiral stairway. By this construction the treads of the stairway are obviously protected from becoming slippery or coated with ice, snow or sleet, which is a very. desirable feature inthe practical use of devices of this character. The provision of the enlarged front vestibule 31*, which I obtain by reason of my novel positioning of the stairway, provides an enlarged area for standers on the lower deck and in addition affords ample room for the conductor to move about in while collecting fares.

It will also be apparent that by reason of my novel construction, the driver and conductor can at all times readily carefully watch the ingress andegress of the passengers and the driver is enabled to approach closely to the curb so as to leave on passengers with ease and between the driver and conductor, both of whom are stationed in proximity to the front entrance, it can be readily ascertained that all passengers are on safely or off the coach before the driver starts the vehicle again.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful inside front stairs way and door for double deck motor coaches which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and

while I have, in the present instance, shown and. described preferred embodiments thereof which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same are susceptible of n'iodification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificingany of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent, is

1. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front right hand side entrance to said lower deck, a drivers compartment and seat at the front lefthand side of said lower deck, partitioning means between said ontrance and drivers compartment for isolatinc the driver, a front inside stairway common to said decks, the front of the central aisle of the lower deck intervening between said front entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, the latter being positioned in the rear of said drivers compartment, and the exit from the top of said stairway to the upper deck, being spaced to the rear of the front of said upper deck to divide the traffic thereon in two directions in combination with a head opening in the roof of said upper deck in vertical alignment with the top of said stairway, and a row of transverse seats on each side of said upper deck, the forward portion of said upper transverse seats being'in advance of the upper exit of said stairway. c

'2. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front entrance to said lower deck, a front inside stairway common to said decks, the front of the aisle of said lower deck intervening between said entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, and the exit from the top of said stairway to the upper deck being spaced to the rear of the front of said upper deck to divide the tra'liic thereon in two directions, in combination with a head opening in the roof of said. upper deck in vertical alignment with the top of said stairway.

3. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front entrance to said lower deck, a front inside stairway common to said decks, the front of the aisle of said lower deck intervening between said entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, and the eXit from the top of said stairway to the upper deck being spaced to the rear of the front of said upper deck to divide the trafiic thereon in two directions, in combination with a head opening in the roof of said upper deck in vertical alignment with the top of said stairway, and a door on said upper deck for closing said head opening.

4. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front entrance to said lower deck, a front inside stairway common to said decks, the front of the aisle of said lower deck intervening between said front entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, the exitfrom the top of said stairway to said upper deck being spaced to the rear of the front of said upper deck so as to divide the upper deck tratlic in two directions, a row of seats on each side of said upper deck, a roof on said upper deck open at its longitudinal central portion but having an overhang projecting over said rows of seats, a head opening in said roof in vertical alignment with the upper end of said stairway, and an angularly'shaped sliding door for said upper deck having an upper lateral extension adapted to close said head opening.

5. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front right hand side entrance to said lower deck, a drivers compartn'ient and seatat the front left hand side of'said lower deck, partitioning means between said entrance and drivers compartment for isolating the driver, a front inside stairway common to said decks, the front of the central aisle of the lower deck intervening between said front entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, the latter being positioned in the rear of said drivers compartment, and the exit from the top of said stairway to the upper deck being spaced to the rear ofthe front of said upper deck to divide the traffic thereon in two directions in combination with a head opening in the roof of said upper deck in vertical alignment with the top of said stairway, a row of transverse seats on each side of said upper deck, the forward portion of said upper transverse seals being in advance of the upper exit of said stairway, and a roof for said upper deck having a head opening therein above the upper exitof said stairway.

6. In a motor coach, an upper and lower deck, a front right hand side entrance to said lower deck, a drivers compartment and seat at the front left hand side of said lower deck, partitioning means between said entrance and driver's COJTIPHI'l'D'IGHt for isolating the driver. a front inside stairway common to said decks, the "front of the central aisle of the lower deck intervening between said front entrance and the lower treads of said stairway, the latter being posltioned 1n the 'on in two directions in combination with a head opening in the roof of said upper deck in vertical alignment with the top of said stairway, a row of transverse seats on each side of said upper deck, the forward portion of said upper transverse seats being in advance of the upper exit of said stairway, and a roof for said upper deck having a head opening therein above the upper exit of said stairway, said upper deck roof being open throughout its longitudinal central portion and having inwardly extendlng lateral overhangs projecting over said uppercrows of transverse seats.

ELBERT A. CORBIN, J11. 

